My Criminal Life
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300321 |
| Published date | 01 July 1980 |
| Date | 01 July 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The continuing story
of
a Victorian policeman
from
his own
autobiography .. .
MY
CRIMINAL
LIFE
BY
SUPERINTENDENT
BENT
CHAPTER
XIV
Tales
of
Timidity
It
is but fair to confess that I was not exactly well fitted for the
calling of a policemanat the time Ijoined the force. Iwas timid rather
than bold, and - as the effect of reading cheap trashy literature -
was rather afraid of ghosts and hobgoblins, and dared scarcely
venture out of the house at night. I was, however, verycareful not to
let my wifesee how easily frightened I was in connection with matters
supernatural. I have a vivid rememberance of one Friday night, when
my "better
half'
had gone out shopping, that I began to read some of
the penny-dreadful stuff which was popular in those days; and
although I lived in a house with only two small apartments down and
two upstairs, with cottages on either side of me, I dared not venture
to sit by myself without having the
door
wide open, through being
afraid of something "uncanny" coming out of the kitchen or down
the chimney, while I would occasionally get up from my chairand go
to the
door
to look to the right and left to see if anyone was passing.
At last I found my candle getting low; and though I knew that we
had a supply of"farthing dips" in the small kitchen, it was a longtime
before I could muster up courage to go and fetch one.
It
so happened,
however, that having seen two persons coming in the direction of
our
house, I took my nearly-exhausted light, walked backwards feeling
for the candles, and having found them I seized one quickly, and
having burned the string attaching it to the rest of the candles, I
bolted back into the house. Thinking I had achieved some great feat,
I sat down again to finish the article I was reading, when I was
suddenly startled by a tremendous crash in the kitchen. Of course, in
the circumstances, this was much more than I could stand; so I ran
out of the house and stood at the
door
whistling, and trying to make
it appear that nothing was wrong, but now and then peeping into the
house to see if anything had really come out of the kitchen or down
Police Journal July 1980 291
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